


Last (First) Light

by Meilan_Firaga



Category: Sunshine - Robin McKinley
Genre: Canon Continuation, F/M, Fluff, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-29 20:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18786064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meilan_Firaga/pseuds/Meilan_Firaga
Summary: Dawn became my sunset.Life has changed for Sunshine in so very many ways. What's one more?





	Last (First) Light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dolorosa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dolorosa/gifts).



Dawn became my sunset. When I was still working my full load of shifts at Charlie’s—before everything went pear shaped—I hadn’t taken much time for sunsets. The dessert shift ran through it most evenings, and on the days I had off I was usually too preoccupied with other things to just sit and enjoy the view. Plus, I was never too keen on watching the sun disappear for the night. I always felt its absence, even when I was trying so hard to ignore what it meant to me. I hadn’t exactly seen many sunrises either, what with getting up at four in the morning to make cinnamon rolls. 

Things were different with Con.

We fell into the routine by accident. It was maybe a month after I walked with him into the darkness. It wasn’t like either of us to lose track of the sun, but we’d kind of gotten into a groove and it was my morning off from the bakery. The first faint light of dawn changed the sky from deepest night to a fading gray. We were in the open with no place to go to ground. I laced my fingers with his before either of us even voiced the concern. We stopped as the sky began to lighten before us, shifting its hues, pinks and golds overtaking the blue and gray. Con stopped moving, emerald eyes trained on the great circle of light that peeked over the horizon. The micro expressions I was getting better and better at recognizing might as well have been a deep, shocked inhale. He was enraptured.

“I had forgotten.” His voice was like dry leaves skittering over pavement, a disused tone I hadn’t heard since our long trek through the daylight after those awful nights at the lake. “The simple beauty of it.” He’d grown more conscious of his otherworldly strength and grace, but he seemed to forget himself in that moment. I found myself tugged into his embrace so quickly I would have stumbled and fallen had I not found myself pressed against his chest. 

Physical affection was my contribution to our… relationship? We’ll go with that. I tried not to ask for it too often—there were still too many issues there—but Con never hesitated when I did. That moment, staring at the rising sun, was the first time he ever went for a cuddle without me asking. He draped himself over my back, his fingers still laced tightly with mine. The way his arms wrapped around me felt intimate in a way we hadn’t been before that moment. It was different from how Mel would hold me, but not just because he was a vampire. I couldn’t fully describe it.

We stood like that until the sun had completely crested the horizon. He didn’t speak further, and I didn’t offer any commentary of my own. When the almost-magic of dawn had passed he unwrapped me from his arms without ever letting go of my hand, and I walked him back to his earth-place before I made my way home. It wasn’t a big deal. We didn’t have some long chat about it. We didn’t avoid the whole thing like the plague. It just  _ was _ .

Con knew my schedule, though. When I had to go in unexpectedly I’d gotten into the habit of calling across our connection to keep him up to date. We didn’t have plans to spend time together the next time I had a morning off, but he called on me anyway. I woke just before dawn to the familiar knowledge that he was in the room with me. He didn’t ask, but I made my way out to the balcony and settled down on the floor. I didn’t hear him approach. I just felt the heat of him—just a few degrees warmer than my own skin—as he settled behind me. 

It became a habit more easily than anything in my life ever had. Not even cinnamon rolls fit that well. It scared me, and part of me wanted nothing more than to forbid it. But… well, it felt right. Before long it was every morning I didn’t go into the bakery. I stopped going to Mel’s the nights before mornings off entirely. If we weren’t already together he would arrive just before dawn. We’d settle down on my balcony if we were at my place or wherever was handy if we’d been out and about. He’d hold me and we’d watch the sun come up. I’d gotten so good at being his sunshade that we barely had to be touching. He still held me every time. When the day was fully started I’d walk him to his earth-place and head home on my own.

Then the morning came when I was just too tired to walk him back. Dessert shift hadn’t been bad the night before. We hadn’t done anything too exhausting over the nighttime hours. I just couldn’t come up with a good reason why I had to bother. The day started for real, and instead of taking his hand and stepping onto that strange pathway I led him back to my bedroom. I closed everything up with one hand. Once we were both in shadow I changed into one of my favorite nightgowns and crawled into bed. Con stood in the middle of the room watching me with those brilliant green eyes.

“Does this have to be so complicated that we need to talk about?” I asked him from the middle of the mattress. He tilted his head to one side and gave me a look that I’d learned to recognize as ‘vampire puzzling out human expressions.’ “We both need rest. Get over here.”

I hadn’t realized that the casual sunrise cuddling would translate well to lying down. We fit together like puzzle pieces now. He didn’t have to be prodded into arranging himself comfortably for the both of us anymore, and I tangled our legs together without thinking about it. His lack of heartbeat didn’t bother me anymore. It was actually almost comforting. The lack of sound was a tell that the breathing-but-not-really body I was entangled with was him and no one else. 

I don’t think that I’d ever slept quite so well. 

The next time I visited Con’s earth-place I found he’d gotten a bed. Neither of us sleep alone much after that.


End file.
